Monthly Archives: February 2014

Beatriz Boizan was nineteen when she left Cuba. She arrived in Canada to celebrate her 20th birthday with a big, resounding YAY! I spotted the pianist on You Tube in a performance of Haydn’s majestic Sonata no 52 in Eb. … Continue reading →

F# Major, from a certain perspective, happens to be one of the easier scales to play because it falls into patterns of triple black and double black keys with thumbs meeting in between. In fact, both hands have mirror fingers … Continue reading →

I’ve selected broken chord chains or arpeggios (harp-like figures) that have symmetries between the hands when played in 10ths, and separately in contrary motion. Taken together, these are not pedantic exercises, but expressive romps over many octaves culminating in a … Continue reading →

I chose the Ab Major scale as my springboard for this demonstration. Its KEY SIGNATURE has the mnemonic BEAD (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db) I recommend practicing the scale hands alone at first in its Root position to clarify fingering. Then … Continue reading →

I find that adding supple wrist dips to staccato within any dynamic range helps to style and shape lines, phrases, etc. Here’s it’s first executed within a scale framework. A cat cameo appearance is the opener. Now a sample of … Continue reading →

Three selected short pieces offer musical enticement for students who’ve survived the method book phase and need rejuvenating connections with the masters, albeit via contemporaries of the glittery Classical era giants. In one instance, I discovered a gem dating back … Continue reading →

Since I have two students immersed in this gorgeously spun out Impromptu, my review has been perfectly timed. Schubert’s composition challenges the player to be lyrical through swaths of triplets. These roll out as fast but contoured melody. Laying a … Continue reading →